The present disclosure relates generally to shipping containers for food products formed from a foldable sheet material. The disclosure relates more particularly to shipping containers or cases for food products that are convertible from a shipping configuration to a display configuration for displaying the food products for sale. The disclosure relates still more particularly to shipping cases for food products that have one or more selectively removable or deployable panels to enhance ventilation and cooling of the food products that are stored in the display configuration of the case. The disclosure relates more particularly to a case for food products that is convertible from the shipping configuration to the display configuration with selectively removable vent panels that are formed from a blank of the foldable sheet material, and that may be assembled, filled with a food product and closed for shipping using either automatic or manual production processes.
Paperboard or cardboard containers or cases are used extensively in packaging and shipping a wide variety of products, such as food products. Some types of such cases may be opened and used to hold the shipped food product for display at a store or other facility, such as by opening folded panels or removing a tear-away panel or portion of the case to at least partially expose the food product. However, such known shipping and display cases for food products have a number of disadvantages. For example, such cases are often tightly packed with food products to maximize shipping density, leading to poor ventilation and cooling of perishable food products. Other such cases are sized and shaped in a manner that requires the food products to be packed in an undesirable orientation (e.g. on a side edge, etc.), leading to settling or ‘clumping’ of the food product in a manner that is not readily recoverable when reconfigured in the display orientation (e.g. particularly for moist food products, such as shredded cheeses, etc.). Such known cases also typically completely enclose the food products to provide protection during shipment, and do not permit adequate ventilation of the food products within the case when the case is converted to the display configuration. Prior efforts to enhance ventilation of shipping cases typically involved providing precut openings that compromised protection of the products during shipping, or cutting part of the case away when converting the case to the display configuration that typically results in product damage or loss due to inadvertent cutting of the food products stored in the case, or leads to inconsistent removal of portions of the case that cause loss of structural integrity of the case needed for proper display of the food products. Current designs rely heavily on perforations to open or execute conversion of the case, often requiring heavy manipulation of the perforations and orientation of the case, thereby requiring additional steps to be taken to open or execute a shelf-ready package. Current designs employ perforation designs (e.g., long perforations) that often do not tear as intended and leave rough edges that detract from the consumer's perception of quality. In some cases, when the perforation do not tear correctly, cases may be cut with a knife, potentially damaging the product, or simply discarded.
Accordingly, there exists a need for shipping cases for food products that are convertible from a shipping configuration to a display configuration for displaying the food products for sale, that have one or more selectively removable or deployable panels to enhance ventilation and cooling of the food products that are displayed in the case, and that are formed from a blank of foldable sheet material that may be assembled, filled with food product, and closed for shipping using either automatic or manual production processes, which overcomes the disadvantages associated with conventional shipping case designs.